Lucy
by angiehart
Summary: Meg Callahan lives a rather mundane life. That all changes one day when find three year old Lucy, abandoned and abused behind a dumpster. As Meg rushes her to the hospital, Lucy forms and unbreakable bond with Meg. As her physical and emotional wounds heal, her story begins to unravel. Mostly OC but Grey's characters will pop in and out. A little AU because of timing.
1. Chapter 1

one

I stare at my blank computer screen, the blinking cursor mocking me. I needed an idea, just a spark, something to light my fire. Sighing, I press the power button and the screen black. I swirl my chair around and slide over to the kitchen table and grab my cell phone. I punch in my passcode and quickly come to my contacts. I scroll down and smile when I find what I'm looking for. The phone rings and on the fourth rings my best friend Sofia Milano picks up.

"Oh you're alive." she says jokingly.

"Sorry Sof, my publishers have been hounding me to write another book." I apologize.

"I know, I know it's okay but I miss my best friend. Seriously Meg, I haven't seen you in forever. " She says.

"Well you want to come over?" I ask.

"Sure, but just curious why now?" She responds.

"Because if I don't interact with something other than my computer screen in the next 30 minutes I might kill myself." I say.

"I'll be there in 10." She says quickly before hanging up. Laughing, I move from the tiny desk in my kitchen that I call my office, to my couch and lay down while I wait for Sofia to arrive. Memories chase each other around my mind and I try to make sense of how my whole life had gone to crap in the last year.

My ex-fiancée Matthew broke off our engagement with no warning in a 37 second phone call, claiming that I wasn't ready for marriage. My mom was in a car accident and died, then my dad became an alcoholic who refuses to go to rehab, and book sales had dropped 35%, therefor making my publisher hound me to write another novel because _Maps_ was published three years ago. The only good thing I really have left is Sofia, my best friend of nine years.

I smile as memories of Sofia and I doing everything together surface, making everything else not seem so bad. My train of thought is broken when I hear a knock at the door. My feet hit the ground and I'm at that door in record time. Her smiling face is revealed as I swing open the door.

"Sof!" I exclaim as I embrace my best friend.

"Red!" She yells. I smile hearing my childhood nickname, given to me because of my fiery red hair. "How you been?" She asks as we pull away.

"Honestly, not so great," I say as we make our way over to the couch.

"Publisher issues, daddy issues, mommy issues or ex-fiancée issues?"

"Publisher," I answer. "Janet has been sending me three emails a day."

"Never liked her." Sofia says.

"You know we used to be a lot more fun." I say. "You know before Matthew and Emmett." I say referring to Sofia's ex. "They broke us."

"We totally were." She agrees. "You know what we need to do?"

"What?" I question.

"We need to go out!" She exclaims.

"Sof I really don't want to go to a bar at 4 in the afternoon." I complain.

"No not a bar, just Fiona's." She says referring to our favorite coffee shop.

"Okay I can do Fiona's today."

"Great!" She says as she claps her hands together.

"I'm going to go grab some shoes." I say as I head back to my closet. The rows of shoes stare back at me, the colors bursting through my eyes. I grab a pair of short coffee brown boots, quickly throw them on, and rush back to join Sofia in the living room.

"Ready?" She asks grabbing her purse.

"Ready." I say I as grab my coat and shove my wallet and phone inside the pocket. As we go out the door, a strange thought runs through my mind. "Sofia I have no idea why, but I think something is going to happen today."

"What kind of thing?" she asks as I lock the door.

"I don't know maybe something good, something bad, a little bit of both. I can't explain it, but something big is going to happen today."

"Okay you ponder that for a while." Sofia says, writing off my weirdness. I give her a look and we both burst out laughing for no reason at all. "I've just solved one of your problems!" She exclaims out of nowhere.

"Which one?" I ask.

"Publisher," She responds.

"Okay hit me." I say.

"You can write a book about what a jackass Matthew is!" She exclaims.

"Sof, I'm sorry, I know you hate him and don't get me wrong I do too, but I'm not writing and publishing a Taylor Swift song in book form." I say with a smile. We arrive in the lobby and push through to revolving doors. The November chill hits me and I shiver as put on my coat.

"Fine," She says, "Oh I've got another idea, you can write about how much publishers suck." She smiles and nods her head.

"Yeah, that's the best way for them to drop me." I say.

"You're no fun." She says as she nudges me. I shove her back and we break into yet another fit of giggles, in a way only best friends can. People begin to stare which if you know us, only makes us laugh harder.

"I forgot how much fun this is." I say, nearly out of breath from all the laughing we were doing. "You know just being completely ourselves."

"I know," She responds, "I feel like we haven't done this in forever. You know since we met Matthew and Emmett."

"Right, it's like they put us in a box, trying to shape us into the perfect girl." I say.

"Well now I'm having a going back to being me, I don't know, maybe I liked the version of me Emmett created better, it's just hard, you know."

"Sofia Alessandra Vanessa Milano you are perfect just the way you are." I scold.

"Thanks Meg." She says sheepishly. I push open the door to the tiny coffee shop and the aroma of coffee and fresh baked goods hit me, spreading a smile. Fiona's is the kind of place that you would never find if you didn't know where it is.

"Hey girls!" the older brunette calls over.

"Hi Fiona!" we call back. We were always here so everybody pretty much knew our names.

"The regular?" She asks. Our order had been the same since high school, two chai tea lattes and a blueberry muffin, which we always shared. We were pretty reliable.

"Uh huh," We responded simultaneously as we walk up to the counter.

"Where's

"How's the book going Meg?" Fiona asks as she begins to make our drinks. Fiona was the older sister to everyone that came into her shop. You could talk to her, laugh with her, and just make you feel better.

"Not great," I respond. "I haven't even started."

"She's still trying to find an idea, and she rejected my idea about how much a jackass Matthew is." Sofia fills in.

" Sweetie why? That's a great idea! Publicly humiliate the man who broke your heart!" Fiona exclaims. I laugh as Sofia gives me a look that says "Exactly!"

"Let's question Sofia now." I say quickly trying to change the subject.

"Okay fine." Fiona says with a fake pout on her face as she hands us the drinks. We take our seats at the counter.

"How's school going?" I ask Sofia. Sofia was a kindergarten teacher at Bellevue School and all the kids loved her.

"Pretty good, there's just this one kid named Tommy who just won't stop talking."

"Reminds me of a certain 18 year old Sofia Milano ." I say with a smirk. Fiona begins to laugh as she hands us the drinks and then the blueberry muffin split into two pieces.

"Thanks Fiona," I say as I break off a chunk of the muffin and pop it into my mouth. "Did Sav make these?" I ask referring to Fiona's 17 year old daughter Savannah. Anybody who came into Fiona's knew her outspoken daughter Savannah. She was a handful, but she also was the best baker in town.

"Yeah," Fiona says proudly while a smile spreads across her face. I take a sip of the chai latte and the warm cinnamon taste dances across my tongue.

The bell over the door rings and a young couple enters the tiny shop.

"Duty calls," Fiona says as she heads over to the front of the counter. I see the sparkle of a wedding ring on the woman's left hand and a twinge of pain hits me. _That could have been us. _I think to myself. My thoughts thoughts are interrupted when I realize that Sofia is waving her hand in front of my face.

"Earth to Meg!" she exclaims as she nearly hits me in the face.

"Sorry I spaced out, what were you saying?" I ask.

"I was asking you why you were staring at that couple." She says.

"It's nothing." I say.

"Red, I know it's not nothing. I haven't seen that look on your face since Matthew." She responds as she places her hand on my shoulder.

"I saw a wedding band on her finger." I say simply. "and I was just thinking that that could have been us. Happily getting coffee together, just enjoying life as newlyweds, not me crying over him, isolated in my apartment."

"Oh Meg," she says as she engulfed me in a hug. She lets me go and looks me in the eye. "Margaret Elise Callahan you are better than him. He would have been lucky to marry you. He is stupid, a true idiot for dumping. You are the best human being I have ever met and I love you with every fiber of my being."

"I love you too Sofia." I say managing to create a weak smile. "You know I think I'm just going to take the latte to go."

"You can't leave, I just gave you a pep talk!" Sofia pouts.

"I know Sof, and you are great at pep talks, but I'm really just want to go home and curl up in a ball and sleep for 18 hours."

"Okay Meg, have fun sleeping and just remember, you are amazing."

"Thanks Sof," I say as I grab my coat and my bag and head towards the door, enviously eyeing the happy couple. The door swings open and the cool Seattle weather nips at my cheeks. I shiver inside my coat and wrap my hands tighter around the warm drink in my hands. I decide to take the long way home, the back roads of Seattle.

As I walk through the streets I really take in the city I've lived in nearly my whole life. It really is beautiful. I stop dead in my tracks when I hear a cry from behind a dumpster. Alarming me, I quickly make my way around the back. I am astonished I what I see. The hot drink falls from my hand, splattering on the sidewalk below me. I stand there in shock.


	2. Chapter 2

A little girl sits there, no more than three years old, curled up in nothing but some ratty blood soaked pajamas and a towel. Her entire body is shaking and covered in cuts and bruises. Her beautiful blonde hair is matted and greasy like it hadn't been washed in months. The bright green iris' shine through everything, a small sign of hope.

"Help me." she whispers. I slowly approach the small girl and kneel in front of her, making our green eyes at the same level.

"My name is Meg, and I'm not going to hurt you." I say slowly and carefully, trying desperately not alarm the young girl.

"Okay." She squeaks.

"I'm going to pick you up now." I say.

"Okay," She says again.

"Okay," I respond. I scoop the tiny girl up in my arms and try my best to shield her from the cold with my coat.

We emerge again onto the main street and I try to signal to a teenage girl standing nearby. She saw the girl's tiny body and instantly knew what I wanted her to do. She grabbed a pink sparkly cell phone from her bag and began to talk rapidly into the speaker.

I felt tears begin to flow out of her eyes and onto chest.

"It's okay you're safe now, nobody is going to hurt you." I say. She sniffles and tries to stop crying. Minutes later I hear an ambulance roaring down the street. The sounds are followed by the blinking of the red and blue lights. It seems like action movie, not real life. Everything is moving so fast. Paramedics come running out of the rig and pull a gurney out of the back. They rip the child from my arms and carefully place her on the gurney, covering her in blankets. Her tiny hand reaches out and grabs my finger. Her eyes plead with me not to leave her.

"I'm coming with you." I say.

"Ma'am you can't do that." The female paramedic says.

"She trusts me, does she trust you?" I ask angrily.

"Fine, fine just stay out the way." The male one says. I climb into the back of the truck and watch as her gurney folds into the back. I grasp her hand and feel it shake. I squeeze it harder as they attracted a heart monitor and put in and IV. Her eyes began to slowly close and my heart rate gets faster.

"What's happening, why are her eyes closing?" I exclaim in worry.

"Don't worry ma'am we just gave her a sedative, believe me it will be the best thing that's happened to her in a while." I breathe a sigh of relief and try to relax. Her hand becomes limp, but I refuse to let go. Minutes later we pulled into the ambulance bay of Grey Sloan Memorial and everything begins to move even faster.

The doors open and I see about five doctors all in blue scrubs and yellow trauma gowns. The young girl's gurney is quickly wheeled into the hands of the doctors and began spitting language at the doctors.

"We got a three year old Jane Doe, severe bruising and lacerations all over her body, possible internal bleeding and likely fracture to the ulna and radius. " Then some more were said, words I didn't understand.

"Page Robbins, Torres and Grey 911 stat, get her to trauma three and run a trauma series!" The oldest doctor yelled.

"Yes Dr Ainsley." I heard distantly from a corner.

"What do we do with her?" A younger woman, I'm assuming a intern asks as she points to me.

"Who's she?" Dr Ainsley asks.

"I'm Meg Callahan, I found her." I say.

"She won't leave." the paramedic says. I send a glare her way.

"Okay um, Edwards, deal with her." A petite woman with curly black hair guides me to an ER bed. I sit on the edge of the bed and try to configure my head around the young doctor and try to peek into the trauma room where the tiny child was being held.

"Okay Ms. Callahan, we have got everything under control now, so you can leave now." She says absently, staring down at a chart.

"Um with all due respect , yeah there's no way in hell I leaving." I nearly yell.

"Ms Callahan, I can't let you do that, if you do stay, you can't see the child. You have no legal or physical relationship with the child." She says.

"Listen, she has nobody!" I yell. "She was sitting there in an alley, an ALLEY, shivering in blood soaked pajamas, afraid to move!" I scream. People begin to stare and an older, woman, probably around 40 comes to the bed.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Meredith Grey, the Chief of Surgery, what seems to be the problem Dr. Edwards?"

"Ms Callahan came in with our young Jane Doe and refuses to leave." She says, clearly annoyed.

"Dr. Grey, I'm sorry, but I can't leave her, she's all alone, she has no one. I'm not leaving until she's fully healed." I apologize. I see the doctor's eyes soften and her lips form a small smile.

"C'mon Ms Callahan, I'll show you to the surgical waiting area, I tell my team to update you on Jane Doe's condition periodically." She responds kindly.

"B-but Chief Grey, that's against protocol." Dr. Edwards stutters.

"I make protocol Edwards." She barks as she gently takes my hand and takes me towards an elevator.

"Sorry about her," she says once we are out of earshot. "She's one of our less competent interns." I manage to stifle a smile."What I am I saying, they're all incompetent"

"So is she going to be okay?" I ask.

"Jane Doe?" she asks. I nod my head. "She should be fine physically, but mentally there's no telling how much damage there'll be."

"So she's not going to die." I say.

"Ms Callahan the chance of that is extremely slim." She says.

"Oh thank god." I say, letting out a breath of relief.

"There is something else you should know." She says solemnly. "It has been confirmed that this is an abuse case." My heart drops to my feet and I ache even harder for this you girl.

"How do you know?" I ask.

"It's all over her scans, remodeled fractures, tons of bruising and lacerations. She's had it very rough." She places her hand on my knee and continues to talk. "Meg if you need to go home, we got this, we have an excellent team of doctors and nurses, she won't be alone."

"I don't have anything at home. I just got dumped by my fiancee, my mom is dead , and my dad's an alcoholic, so if you don't mind I would prefer to stay." I say firmly.

"Okay then, I understand." She says, "I have to get back to the OR, but somebody will be back to update you soon." Just as she gets up to head back to the OR, a young frantic surgeon comes running off the elevator.

"We got on ID on Jane Doe!" She exclaims. Dr. Grey and I stand up abruptly and the young woman rushes over. I read her name tag and realize that her name is Dr. Wilson.

"Wilson what's the ID?" Dr Grey asks.

"Lucy Elizabeth Henderson, she's three, born here on November 17, 2011. The parents are George and Nancy Henderson. The mother died a year ago, heart attack" She hands Lucy's file to Dr. Grey

"Okay Dr. Wilson you need to call the police and tell them we need a location on George Henderson." She barks. Dr. Wilson nods her head and run towards the nurse's station.

My heart beats with anger, wondering how someone could do this to a little girl, a helpless beautiful little girl. I ball my hands into a fist and am about to go on a vexed rampage when Dr. Grey places her hands on my shoulders. The coolness of her hands beings to calm me down and I relax my shoulders.

"Meg, being angry isn't going to help anyone. You are all this girl has left; you need to be there for her." She says.

"I'm all she has left."


	3. Chapter 3

I sit there, waiting, waiting for an update. I had just met this girl but for some reason I felt like I had known her my entire life. I feel this strange urge to protect her. A team of three doctors emerge from the elevator, all wearing brightly colored scrub caps and blue surgical gowns. I recognize Dr. Grey but the other three look like strangers.

"Meg of course you know me, but this is Dr. Torres and Dr. Robbins our heads of Paediatrics and Orthopaedics" Dr. Grey says. "and Dr. Jack Ainsley, our Peds fellow."

"Nice to meet you," I say as I shake Dr Robbins' hand.

"I will be the main doctor on Lucy's case, so you may be seeing me a lot." Dr Robbins says with a smile.

"So how did she do?" I ask.

"She did great. The surgery went well, but it's going to be a hard road back. We have called for a Psych consult and she should be awake soon." Relief washes over me.

"What do you mean it will be a hard road back?" I ask.

"Lucy has been through a lot of trauma, both physically and mentally. It's going to be a lot of physical therapy and a lot of regular therapy. Are you willing to take all that on?" Dr. Ainsley asks.

"I can't explain it, I mean I've only seen her open her eyes once. But I feel like she needs me, and frankly, I need her." I say.

"Okay then, I take you back to see her." Dr Grey says. She guides me through the long winding hallways that make up the ICU of Grey Sloan. The smell of antiseptic stings my nose and I cringe. As we walk down the hallway, I see the recovering patients, all surrounded by adorning family and friends. My heart aches.

"Here we are." Dr Grey says. I stare down at her tiny face. The blood has been wiped off and her hair surrounds her head in a golden halo. He face has a sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks and nose and her lips are a pale pink. Bandages are strewn across her face. Two casts grace her left arm and right leg.

"She's looks broken." I say solemnly.

"Well to be honest, she is." She says solemnly. I plant myself in the chair next to her bed and grab her tiny and battered hand. Dr. Grey does a quick examination of Lucy and gives her the okay. Her eyes begin to flutter open. Her big green eyes are revealed and they begin to flit around in panic.

"Lucy, Lucy, can you follow my finger." Dr. Grey says.

"Don't say it! Don't say my name." She shrieks.

"Lucy you're safe now nobody is going to hurt you now." I say.

"No, don't say it!" She exclaims. "Daddy says only good girls get names, and I'm a bad girl. I made Mommy go to heaven." She shrieks.

Lucy you're okay, you're safe now. Daddy isn't here anymore." Dr. Grey ays, trying to calm her.

As all our attempts fail terribly, Dr. Grey reluctantly pushes a sedative into Lucy's

IV.

"Why did she say that she made her mom go to heaven?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Her dad blames her for his wife's death." Dr. Grey says. "That's probably the root of the abuse."

I walk over to a rocking chair in the corner of Lucy's tiny hospital room and lay my face in my hands, trying to process everything that has happened in the last six hours.

"Meg I'm not sure if this is the right time to ask this but what do you plan on doing after she is released?" Dr. Grey asks.

"Honestly I think I might adopt her." I say, somewhat even shocking myself.

"Are you sure, Meg that seems radical, you only met her six hours ago." she says concerned.

"Dr. Grey I grew up in the system and it was awful, if I can keep one child from going through I did, I'm going to do it."

"Well the first step is to see if she takes to you, but we'll have to wait for her to wake up."

"What happens if she doesn't take to me?" I ask nervously.

"She'll be put in the system." Dr. Grey says solemnly. _I can't let that happen. _I think to myself. I hear a knock on the door and turn to see Dr. Ainsley standing there with a page of Lucy's test results in his hand.

"How's she doing?" I ask.

"She's good, stable and holding." He says with a smile.

"It's getting pretty late so I'm going to head out, but Dr. Ainsley will be here so if you need something just page him." Dr. Grey says with a smile. I return the gesture and try to curl up in a semi comfortable position on the chair.

"Goodnight." Dr. Ainsley says.

"Goodnight." I whisper back. My eyes flutter close and I fall into a deep slumber, hoping to dream of good dreams.

I hear a scream and I quickly bolt open my eyes. My eyes adjust to the darkness and I see Lucy sitting up in her bed shrieking, awaken by her demons.

"Its okay, it's okay." I say as I meticulously inch towards her bed. She whimpers and holds out her hand. I grab her fingers. I feel her flinch, but steadily becomes tranquil. Her petite arms encircle my neck and I pull her out of her bed, careful not to pull out any wires. I settle her into my lap on the rocking chair.

"It's okay, you're safe now." I whisper into her ear as I rock her back and forth like a small child.

"My mommy used to do this." She whispers back between her tears. I brush her bright hair off of her forehead, being watchful not to rip off any of her bandages. Her tears begin to quiet and green eyes shine through the darkness.

"I bet she was a good mommy." I say.

"Who's going to be my mommy now?" She asks. I wrack my brain for an answer and can only come up with this.

"I'll be your mommy now."

2


End file.
